About Mindy:
Mindy (she/her) is a professor of psychological science and member of the interdisciplinary women’s, gender, and sexuality studies program at the University of Mary Washington, is a social psychologist and a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association (Div 1 and Div 35) and the Association for Psychological Science. She has been recognized as a leader for women in psychology by the Committee for Women in Psychology and as an outstanding teacher through her receipt of the Mary Roth Walsh Teaching the Psychology of Women Award from the Society for the Psychology of Women. In addition to being outgoing Council rep for Division 1 and our new President-elect, she is also currently nearing the end of her terms as President of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research and Treasurer for the Association for Women in Psychology. Her research has focused on myriad topics, including feminist identity, the objectification and sexualization of women, division of labor and parenting, and menstruation and other reproductive health issues.
How long have you been a member of Division 1?
I believe I joined in 2010 when encouraged to do so by Nancy Felipe Russo, President at that time, who had been one of my mentors in graduate school.
How did you become involved with Division 1?
Nancy encouraged me to join so that I could get involved with one of her presidential projects. While my involvement in that didn’t work out, I did stay part of the division, and Wade Pickren asked me to run for Member-at-Large a few years later. In that role, I served as Fellows Chair, helped establish the Calkins Grant, and helped review for numerous other Divisional 1 awards. I then ran for, and was elected to serve as the Division 1 rep to Council, and in this role, I also served as our representative to the Division for Social Justice.
How has Division 1 been beneficial to you?
Division 1 has been a wonderful place to network and build connections with those from a different sub-disciplinary background within psychology. My work and interests cross those types of boundaries, but it can be hard to find people without those focused connections, so Division 1 has been very important in this regard. Serving Division 1 has also allowed me to greatly increase my understanding of the structure of APA and identify ways I can make a meaningful difference as well as where I can best get involved given my interests and skills.
What do you hope the future direction of Division 1 might include?
I am really happy with all that’s been happening with Division 1 over the past few years. The Presidents and extended Executive Committee have done a lot of work to help clarify what Division 1 is and make clear the benefits available for members. I hope to continue to build on this while I am president. While it’s still early days for me to be specifying specific projects, I do know that I want to continue to find ways for Division 1 members to connect with each other and build meaningful relationships. I also want to explore ways for our division to be more inclusive and welcoming those with diverse personal and professional identities.